Books with Settings That are New to Me (Top Ten Tuesday)

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, where we make a list about our favorite book topics! Today’s topic is “Settings I’d Like to See More Of” but I’m not too picky about the settings, so this week I’m going to twist the topic a bit and write about books on my TBR that have settings that are new to me. Last month, I challenged myself to read more books from different countries and states. There are so many places in this world and I still have to read about a lot of them. So today I’ll go through my TBR and find books from places I’ve never been and have yet to read about.

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

Piedmont Valley, Italy, Medieval era ~ Rora

My “Read Around the World” challenge doesn’t include historical novels, but I think maybe I’ll make an extra column for historical novels. I’ve never read about this particular part of the world or about this particular group of people (except for a couple of lines in Foxe’s book of Martyrs). This is on my summer TBR, so I hope to read it soon.

Ukraine ~ Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine

Fun fact: while Ukraine is officially known as Ukraine today, during the Holodomor (what this book is about) people usually called it The Ukraine. But don’t do that today because it’s considered insulting. At the time of this book, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and now it’s not. The farmers at the time didn’t want to go for collectivization, and Stalin tried to starve them. I’ve never read a book set in the Ukraine, so it made today’s list.

North Korea ~ Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il

Evidently, Kim Jong Il of North Korea could fart rainbows. Or something like that. There aren’t too many books set in North Korea. I don’t think I’ve ever read one, in fact (maybe some world history books that might talk about it for a chapter).

The Azores ~ The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores

I’ve been to the Azores before. It was in the middle of the night at the airport, and I was only there for an hour, but I can technically say I’ve been there. Didn’t really see much because it was dark though. It would probably be more interesting to read this book set in the Azores.

Israel ~ Lone Wolf in Jerusalem

I’ve read several books where the characters visit Israel, but I don’t think I’ve read a book where the main setting was Israel.

Russia on the Eve of Revolution ~ Blood Red, Snow White

I did read The Bear and the Nightingale, so I don’t know if this should count, but these are completely different time periods. This is an interesting period of history though.

Ottoman Empire ~ And I Darken

This is another book that’s on my seasonal TBR for this summer. While we can travel to the location that And I Darken was set today, we can’t exactly travel to the old Ottoman Empire.

Afghanistan ~ The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan

I don’t think I’ve read any books set in Afghanistan. This one is set in the 1980s. I’m sure the country has changed since this book took place, but the great things about books is that you can visit different locations at different time periods.

Hong Kong ~ Somewhere Only We Know

Hong Kong is another location that I’ve never been to in real life, and probably not in a book either. If I did, it was only a small part of the book. This book looks a lot more fun than most of the other books on this list too.

Thirteenth Century Wales ~ Here Be Dragons

The Infernal Devices took me to Wales in the 19th century for a bit, but I’ve never been to Wales in person, and I’ve certainly never been to thirteenth century Wales. It looks like it might be an interesting place to visit.

So that’s ten places that I’ve never taken a book to. Have you been to these places, either virtually or in real life? What bookish settings did you write about today? Next week is a freebie, and I took some inspiration from Whimsy Pages and will be writing about ten books from the last ten years that are still on my TBR!